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Original poster

Ali Smith, The Accidental - has anyone persevered with this?

40 replies

MrsMuddle · 10/11/2006 22:41

I'm trying so hard to like this. I liked the cover, I liked the blurb, but I'm finding it realy difficult to read. I admit that my attention span's not that great, but I feel like I'm reading a foreign language. Has anyone finished it? Does it get better?

OP posts:
noddyholder · 10/11/2006 22:48

I started it and have stopped it and started reading Zadie Smith On Beauty but I am going to go back to it as most of my book group loved it

maggiesmama · 10/11/2006 22:53

i thought it was ok. though, as with a lot of contemporary lit published in this genre (yes zadie s, i mean you) its not as good as it thinks it is. worth finishing, because why not. unless youve got something better to read...

eastendgirl · 10/11/2006 22:54

I gave my copy to the local charity shop...

expatinscotland · 10/11/2006 22:56

No.

It didn't pass the 50 pages rule, so I gave it back to the charity shop.

Original poster
MrsMuddle · 10/11/2006 23:32

maggiesmama, that's the problem. I've got piles of books to read, including The Inheritance Of Loss, which I got out the library and I'm dying to read. But the Accidental is for my book group, so I feel I should read it. It's very rare for me not to finish a book - Captain Corelli was the last one I couldn't finish. I think the fact that four out of five people on this thread didn't finish it means that it's maybe not worth it. I'll have one last go at it tonight. Thanks, everyone. I'm glad it's not just me.

OP posts:
pipsqueak · 10/11/2006 23:38

finished it but only because i was on holiday and had finished all the other availbale options....can't think why it was so acclaimed and wondered throughout if i ahd missed something . feel reassured i am not the only one who found it ahrd going ...

Saturn74 · 10/11/2006 23:40

Gave up half way through - just couldn't get into it.

expatinscotland · 10/11/2006 23:40

It's overrated, like a lot of stuff out there now.

poshgirlformerlymaggiesmama · 10/11/2006 23:40

i did finish, by the way. and it wasnt particularly edifying

controlfreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaky2 · 10/11/2006 23:41

couldnt get on with it at all. v disappointing imo. lifes too short to read bad books.

janeite · 10/11/2006 23:57

Finished it but then really regretted wasting the time on it. Kept waiting for something to happen but nothing ever did really. I liked "Hotel World" a lot though.

Original poster
MrsMuddle · 12/11/2006 17:55

Have definitely given up now. I'll have to confess all at my book group on Wednesday. And to make it worse, it was my choice. I think I might be banned from choosing for a couple of months.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 12/11/2006 20:07

OMG, I loved this book, I can't believe everyone else hated it. I loved how it was done in different voices, that were really convincing. I loved the fact the same events were shown from different perspectives, perfectly convincingly. And of course I loved the main character. I got Hotel World after reading The Accidental, but didn't like it as much ...

StrangeTown · 12/11/2006 20:19

Hi Mrs - I had exact same problem. Thought it would be right up my street and hated it.

expatinscotland · 12/11/2006 20:27

See, I could never be in a book group, b/c it would remind me too much of all those literature classes at university where you had to read the books on the syllabus.

ProfessorGrammaticus · 12/11/2006 20:33

I couldn't really make sense of it - NQC can you help a bit? Who was the bloody woman? Or is the point that she was different things to different people?

DarrellRivers · 12/11/2006 20:39

Oh I read this when I was doing the booker prize short list, and I did quite enjoy the way the story was told by all the different characters, BUT I didn't get the point of the book.
It was all a bit confusing.
The worse book surely for nothing really ever happening for most of it was The Sea /John Banville

NotQuiteCockney · 12/11/2006 20:44

Spoiler, spoiler, spoiler, I made it out of text, spoiler, spoiler, spoiler, It hides what happens next!, Spoiler, spoiler, spoiler, I made it out of text, spoiler, spoiler, spoiler, It hides what happens next!, Spoiler, spoiler, spoiler, I made it out of text, spoiler, spoiler, spoiler, It hides what happens next!

(Just in case anyone who's reading is in the middle of this book!)

She was the same as the mother - she just wandered in. Her name wasn't true. None of it was true. At the end, you see that the mother is going to do the same thing to another family, shake it up, reveal the truths etc etc.

NotQuiteCockney · 12/11/2006 20:45

God, yeah, I couldn't stand The Sea. Didn't it win?

I'm midway through this year's booker prize, there's a thread somewhere ...

MrsSpoon · 12/11/2006 20:46

I chucked this too and I tend to persevere with books but just couldn't get to grips with this at all. I did finish The Sea, found it beautifully written and a great aid to sleep in the evening but pretty plotless.

marymillington · 12/11/2006 20:50

I loved reading this book, was totally gripped by the writing....but then completely missed the point of the ending and I still need someone to explain it to me.

DarrellRivers · 12/11/2006 20:53

Oh thanks NQC, I thought that's what must have been the idea, but wondered if I had missed anything.
The Sea was beautifully written, I agree.
Am getting the new Booker Prize list this Christmas hopefully

NotQuiteCockney · 12/11/2006 20:55

(I haven't read reviews, and am not generally a book-analysis person, but I do think I've got the idea below, under the stolen-spoiler-warning text.)

FrannyandZooey · 12/11/2006 21:03

I thought I had maybe read this but I don't remember it. I really did like Hotel World. I think.

ProfessorGrammaticus · 13/11/2006 21:18

Oohhhh right! Thanks!